Learning in English brings rewards

DANBURY -- Thirty-six and a half percent of the students at Danbury High School do not speak English at home. They speak more than 40 other languages.

Studying English as a second language while taking classes in English is a challenge. Having to speak English in class, and often taking classes they already completed in their native countries, makes for a stressful, if rewarding, experience.

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Cody Xu
took Geometry in China but retook it at Ridgefield High to learn to express its concepts in English.
Nanci Alvarez
, a native Spanish speaker at Danbury High, has taken Civics, Algebra and other subjects a second time.

"Even though I had taken Civics before in Ecuador, it was hard," said Nanci, a junior. "I didn't know how to read it in English or how to express things in class. But in some ways, I now have a deeper understanding of the subjects I took over."

Nanci said her drive to "answer every question the teacher asked" in English made her study the subjects harder than before. And as her vocabulary grew, her participation in classes grew also.

"I'd get excited when I realized I'm learning this in English, and I'd answer more and more," Nanci said.

Danbury High has specific ESL classes in which students work together on aspects of the English language, such as vocabulary and writing. There are three levels of ESL at the school.

Lexic Barradas
, a senior at Danbury High, was in ESL classes until this year. He is now a "transitional" student, taking all of his classes in English.

"I've picked up English very fast," said Lexic, who moved to Danbury from Mexico two years ago. "I'm taking classes now that I'm really excited about, more classes that are fun. I'm taking Speech Arts. Today we're doing movement to music in that class."

Lexic saw the Danbury High School musical last year, and this year he's playing a pirate in its production of "Peter Pan." He smiled broadly as he told about getting the part thanks to his mastery of English.